Pakistan’s cloak-and-dagger democracy

The simmering crisis in Pakistan deepens with the government attempting a swingback to the Musharraf era in terms of its dealings with the judiciary. In a development that is almost unparalleled, the chief justice of the Supreme Court has sought an explanation on the reported move to subjugate the judges once again. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Geelani has advanced a feeble denial, couched in the sanctimonious cant that the Pakistani Peoples Party (PPP) leaders “have sacrificed their lives for the independence of the judiciary”.